1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an improved data processing system and more specifically, to a method and apparatus for processing data. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer program product for generating audio cues in response to updates to regions in a webpage.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Internet, also referred to as an “internetwork”, is a set of computer networks, possibly dissimilar, joined together by means of gateways that handle data transfer and the conversion of messages from a protocol of the sending network to a protocol used by the receiving network. When capitalized, the term “Internet” refers to the collection of networks and gateways that use the TCP/IP suite of protocols.
The Internet has become a cultural fixture as a source of both information and entertainment. Many businesses use Internet sites as an integral part of their marketing efforts to inform consumers of the products or services offered by the business or providing other information seeking to engender brand loyalty. Many federal, state, and local government agencies are also employing Internet sites for informational purposes, particularly agencies which must interact with virtually all segments of society such as the Internal Revenue Service and secretaries of state. Further, the Internet is becoming increasingly popular as a medium for commercial transactions.
Currently, the most commonly employed method of transferring data over the Internet is to employ the World Wide Web environment, also called simply “the Web”. In the Web environment, servers and clients effect data transaction using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), a known protocol for handling the transfer of various data files. Examples of these types of data files include text, still graphic images, audio, and motion video. The information in various data files is formatted for presentation to a user by a standard page description language, the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). In addition to basic presentation formatting, HTML allows developers to specify “links” to other Web resources identified by a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).
A uniform resource locator is a special syntax identifier defining a communications path to specific information. Each logical block of information accessible to a client, called a “page” or a “Webpage”, is identified by a uniform resource locator. The universal resource locator provides a universal, consistent method for finding and accessing this information, not necessarily for the user, but mostly for the user's Web “browser”. A browser is a program capable of submitting a request for information identified by an identifier, such as, for example, a uniform resource locator.
With respect to presenting content through webpages, AJAX is often used for creating interactive web applications. AJAX is a group of interrelated web development techniques that may be used to create interactive web applications. With AJAX, web applications can retrieve data from servers in an asynchronous manner in the background without interfering with the display and behavior of the existing webpage that is being presented on a display device.
Areas of a webpage that may be updated asynchronously while a webpage is being presented are referred to as live regions. In other words, a live region in a webpage may be updated without requiring refreshing or reloading of the webpage.